Alice to the Rescue

by Judi Curtin

  Alice gave a small, weak smile.

  ‘No way,’ she said.

  Just then the nurse came back into the room.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re all still here,’ she said. ‘Off you go, the whole lot of you, and let this girl get some sleep.’

  Peter and Veronica kissed Alice.

  ‘We’ll be right outside,’ said Veronica. ‘Just call if you need us.’

  I gave Alice a small hug, and then we all left the room.

  The nurse followed us, muttering crossly, but I didn’t care. She could mutter all she liked.

  Alice was awake, and nothing else mattered.

  Chapter twenty-three

  When I got to school the next day, everyone crowded around me, pushing and shoving and asking endless questions. They had all heard that Alice had had an accident, but except for Kellie, no one knew exactly how she was, or what had happened to her.

  At first it was OK. I felt kind of important, because I was the one who knew the stuff that everyone else was desperate to find out.

  Very soon after I arrived at school though, I was fed up of telling people the story.

  I was a bit embarrassed when I told about how Alice got hurt trying to save Domino. Some kids laughed, and some people thought it was stupid getting hurt just to save a cat.

  ‘Don’t cats have nine lives?’ asked Michael who thinks he’s really clever. ‘Alice has only one, so she should have been more careful.

  Only Kellie seemed to understand how I felt. She put her arm around me.

  ‘Don’t feel guilty, Megan,’ she said. ‘It’s not your fault. Everyone knows that Alice is a daredevil. I bet she didn’t think twice about climbing up that tree. I’m a total chicken, but I’d have done it too. I couldn’t bear to see a little kitty in trouble.’

  I knew she was right. Even if I had been standing there with Alice, screaming at her not to climb the tree, she still would have done it.

  Just then Grace and Louise came along. The four of us hugged. I’d been texting them all weekend, but now they wanted the details of the accident, so I had to go back to the beginning and tell the whole story all over again.

  ‘What about France?’ asked Grace as soon as I was finished. ‘Is Alice still allowed to go?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘No. She’s going to be in hospital until the weekend at least, and the doctors said that even after that she won’t be well enough to travel for a while. Her dad’s coming to talk to Mrs Kingston today, to see if the prize can be given to someone else.’

  Grace grinned.

  ‘It’ll be my friend Hannah. She came second in the competition, so she’ll have to get the chance to go to France now, the lucky thing. I’m going to go and find her, and tell her. She’ll be sorry that Alice is hurt, but I know she’ll be totally excited about going to France.’

  Grace and Louise ran off, and Kellie and I got our books ready for the first class. For once in my life, I was glad to be sitting in a classroom – it was a relief not to be the centre of attention for a while.

  * * *

  After school I went to see Alice in hospital. She was still pale, but she was sitting up in bed. She gave a small, tired smile when she saw me.

  ‘Hi, Meg,’ she said. ‘Anything exciting happening?’

  What was I supposed to say to that?

  Something exciting should be happening.

  Alice should be on her first day in boarding school in France. She should be making a whole heap of new friends, and having the time of her life.

  But because of my cat (the cat that Alice had never even liked very much), her trip was ruined.

  Alice was waiting for an answer. I wondered if I’d be brave enough to tell her about Hannah going to France in her place.

  Then she rescued me.

  ‘Dad says someone is going to France in my place. I suppose it’s going to be Hannah?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Yes. It’s all sorted. She’s going next week. I’m sorry, Al,’ I said. ‘Really I am.’

  Alice shrugged.

  ‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘I don’t mind that much really.’

  She was lying, and I could see that she knew that I knew that she was lying.

  But she didn’t seem to care.

  ‘There’s good news too,’ I said suddenly. ‘Hannah’s going to give you the MP3 player she won in the competition. She told me she hasn’t even used it yet.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Alice.

  Then I realised how stupid I was being. Alice had just lost the chance of a big trip to France. How was an MP3 player supposed to make up for that? (Especially as Alice had already got the best one you can buy for Christmas.)

  I stayed for another twenty minutes. For the first time in our lives, Alice and I struggled for things to talk about, and when a nurse came in and said I had to go, I was glad. I gave Alice a hug, promised to come back the next day, and then I left.

  * * *

  Alice was in hospital for four more days, and each day I visited her.

  Each day was worse than the one before.

  No matter how hard I tried to cheer her up, Alice was too sad and too quiet.

  It was like my best friend had vanished, to be replaced by a paler shadow of herself.

  On the day before Alice was due to go home, I met Veronica as I came out of Alice’s room.

  Veronica was back to normal, with perfect hair, perfect nails, and totally perfect clothes. I thought differently about her these days – now that I knew there was a real, loving mum hidden inside under all the perfection.

  ‘Megan, dear,’ said Veronica now. ‘It is so sweet of you to visit Alice every day like this.’

  I shrugged.

  ‘That’s OK. Alice is my friend. I like visiting her.’

  Veronica looked closely at me.

  Could she see through me?

  Could she tell that I was lying?

  Veronica took my arm.

  ‘Come and sit down and talk to me,’ she said, pulling me towards a seat a little way along the corridor.

  I felt a sudden urge to run away – very fast.

  Alice got hurt saving my cat, and now Veronica could see that I hated visiting her in hospital.

  What mother could forgive a girl for that?

  Was I going to get my eyes scratched out by the most beautiful long nails in Limerick?

  We both sat down.

  I looked along the corridor, wondering if some nice doctor might come along to rescue me.

  Would I need a doctor by the time Veronica was finished with me?

  ‘I think you find visiting Alice a bit difficult,’ said Veronica.

  I gulped.

  Should I lie?

  Was there any point in lying, since Veronica had obviously copped on to the truth?

  ‘Er … not really … well … maybe … er …… yes …… just a little bit,’ I muttered.

  I waited for Veronica to attack, but she didn’t. She just gave a small, sad smile.

  ‘Alice isn’t herself yet,’ she said. ‘The doctors say that’s only to be expected after an injury like the one she’s had. And besides, her leg is hurting.’

  I nodded, and Veronica continued. ‘And we mustn’t forget that she’s disappointed about not going to France.’

  I nodded again, not knowing what to say.

  ‘Anyway,’ said Veronica brightly. ‘Alice is going home tomorrow, and everything will be fine then. Just you wait and see.’

  I so wasn’t going to argue with Veronica.

  So I nodded one more time.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Let’s just wait and see.’

  Chapter twenty-four

  A week later Alice was back at school. She wasn’t well enough to walk all the way, so her dad drove her. I travelled with them. When we got to the school, I jumped out of the car first, carrying my bag and Alice’s.

  Everyone stared as Alice slowly climbed out of the car and balanced herself on the one crutch she needed to walk.<
br />
  Michael, the loud stupid boy in our year, pushed to the front of the crowd.

  ‘Hey, welcome back, Hopalong,’ he called.

  I stared at Alice, waiting for a response. The old Alice would have grabbed Michael and threatened to knock his head off with her crutch. For a moment nothing happened, then Alice put her head down, like she hadn’t heard a single, stupid word.

  ‘That’s totally mean,’ I said to Michael.

  He shrugged.

  ‘So what do you plan to do about it?’

  I hesitated. Alice should know what to do next. She never lets people get away with being mean.

  But Alice was standing with her head down, fiddling with the handle of her crutch.

  I walked away from Michael, and back towards Alice.

  ‘He’s just an idiot,’ I said.

  ‘Whatever,’ said Alice in a dull voice.

  I suddenly felt angry.

  ‘You shouldn’t listen to idiots like Michael.’

  But Alice was already walking away.

  ‘Come on, Megan,’ she said, ‘or we’ll be late for class.’

  I felt like crying.

  Alice was back.

  And yet she wasn’t.

  * * *

  Before the accident, Alice, Grace, Louise, Kellie and I used to spend all of our lunch and break-times together. We’d go to the canteen and eat our food as quickly as we could. Then the five of us would go outside. We’d walk around the school grounds, laughing and talking about nothing.

  Now, though, everything was different. Because of her sore leg, Alice had to stay inside. Because I was her best friend, I was allowed to stay with her.

  It should have been my idea of heaven. Alice hadn’t gone to France, and now I was getting to spend loads of time with her, with no one else around, no one else competing for her attention.

  For the first time ever, I understood what Mum often says – be careful what you wish for.

  It was awful.

  Alice never laughed, and she rarely smiled.

  Every day I struggled to make conversation. No matter what I said, Alice always answered politely, without seeming very interested.

  We were like two, not very exciting, strangers at a bus-stop.

  Sometimes this made me feel like running home and crying until I had no tears left.

  Sometimes it made me feel that I’d love to pick Alice up and shake her.

  But most days I struggled on, wishing that I was outside in the fresh air with Grace, Louise and Kellie.

  The scariest thing was that Alice didn’t seem to notice that she was different to before.

  ‘Is your leg very sore?’ I’d ask, or ‘Are you very disappointed that you didn’t get to go to France?’

  And Alice would just shrug, and say, ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  And I’d sit there, and wonder what to say next.

  * * *

  It seemed like a very long week, and I was glad when Friday, Home Ec day, came along.

  Grace, Alice and I walked along the corridor to the cookery room.

  ‘I’m not sure that I can face cooking today,’ I said. ‘Mum’s gone even more crazy than usual. She’s practising new dishes to serve for Linda’s wedding.’

  ‘Isn’t that a good thing?’ asked Grace.

  I shook my head.

  ‘Obviously you don’t know my mum very well. Dinner times in our house were bad enough when we knew what to expect.’

  Grace laughed.

  ‘Megan, you are so funny sometimes.’

  I felt pleased, and turned to see if Alice was laughing. She wasn’t of course. She just had her usual blank expression on her face.

  ‘I bet Miss Leonard is really happy that you didn’t go to France after all,’ I said to Alice.

  ‘Whatever,’ she said.

  It felt like the hundredth time that day that she’d said, ‘whatever’ and I felt like punching her.

  But I had a horrible feeling that if I did punch her, she’d just give me the same blank look, and say ‘whatever’ one more time.

  Grace tried to help.

  ‘I’ve brought the ingredients for quiche,’ she said, ‘but you can cook if you like, Alice.’

  For one moment I felt hopeful. So many things can go wrong when you are making quiche. If Alice started to break eggs, and measure out flour, maybe she’d turn back into the old Alice. Maybe she’d wreck the cookery room. Maybe Miss Leonard’s nightmare would turn out to be my dream come true.

  But Alice just shook her head.

  ‘Thanks, Grace,’ she said, ‘but I’m a bit tired, today. You and Megan can cook. I’ll just watch.’

  I felt awful, but I tried to be positive – Alice had just spoken more than one full sentence, and she hadn’t used the word ‘whatever’ once.

  Chapter twenty-five

  The next few weeks passed very slowly. Alice never wanted to come to my house after school, and she never invited me to her place. When she wasn’t at school, she just sat at home.

  In the beginning I used to ask her to do stuff with me, but after a while, I stopped. I got tired of hearing Alice say ‘no’ to everything I suggested.

  Every day felt like a month, as I hung out with my best friend’s shadow, wondering if the real Alice was ever going to come back.

  And then one day, when I was almost giving up hope of Alice ever getting back to normal, it looked like things were going to change.

  It was lunchtime and Alice and I were sitting inside as usual. She didn’t need a crutch any more, but she still limped a bit. The doctors said it would be another few weeks before her leg was fully back to normal.

  At last the bell rang to let us know that it was time to go back to class.

  ‘Let’s go,’ I said, trying not to show how relieved I was. ‘Do you want me to give you a hand with your books?’

  Alice didn’t move.

  ‘Let’s skip class,’ she said.

  I gulped. I’d never skipped class before.

  What if we got caught?

  We’d be in heaps of trouble.

  And my next class was Geography with Mr Spillane. He never misses anything.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I began. ‘I—’

  ‘Come on,’ said Alice. ‘Please, Megan.’

  I grinned. OK, so I was terrified, but if Alice wanted to skip class, that was a good sign.

  Wasn’t it?

  We found an empty room next to the science lab. We went in, closed the door and sat down.

  Now what?

  Was this supposed to be fun?

  Alice was gazing through the window, like the recycling bin outside was the most wonderful, exciting thing she had ever seen.

  ‘I’m supposed to be in Geography now,’ I said after a while. ‘I suppose you’re missing Business Studies. I know how you hate it.’

  Alice spoke in the dreamy voice that I was getting to know so well and hate so much.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m not missing Business. I’m supposed to be at PE.’

  ‘But you love—’ I began, before Alice interrupted me.

  ‘I don’t love PE,’ she said fiercely. ‘I hate it. I hate every single moment of it.’

  ‘But Miss Ryan is so nice,’ I began. ‘Surely she—’

  ‘That’s the trouble,’ said Alice. ‘Miss Ryan is very nice. She’s much too nice. She lets me keep score when we play indoor soccer. And if we’re not playing soccer, she invents sitting-down games just so I can join in. She always asks me how I am, and she seems to care about the answer. She’s totally nice.’

  ‘And the problem is?’

  ‘I don’t want to be the girl in the corner who the teachers are nice to. I want to be the girl in the middle of the gym, scoring goals.’

  ‘But your leg is going to get better,’ I said. ‘The doctors said so.’

  Suddenly Alice wasn’t fierce any more.

  ‘It’s not just my leg, though, is it?’ she asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, k
nowing exactly what she meant.

  She stared at me like she wanted to see inside my brain.

  ‘Tell me the truth, Megan,’ she said. ‘What do you think is wrong with me?’

  I started to think of half-answers – ways to tell her that nothing was wrong. But then I found that I couldn’t do it. Alice was my friend. It was time to tell her the truth.

  I thought for a long time, and then I took a deep breath.

  ‘You’re almost the same as before,’ I began, ‘but not quite. It’s like … it’s like you’re a jigsaw puzzle, and there’s one piece missing. And without that single piece, nothing seems right any more. It’s like the sparkly bit, the bit that makes you different to everyone else – that bit’s not there any more.’

  At first Alice smiled.

  ‘That’s exactly how I feel,’ she said. ‘You’re really good at explaining things.’

  I smiled back at her, but my smile faded quickly as Alice started to cry.

  ‘Help me, Megan,’ she said through her tears. ‘Please help me to get better.’

  I was close to tears too.

  How could I have let my best friend down like this?

  I’d been so busy missing Alice, it had never occurred to me that she might be missing herself.

  I hugged her for a long time. Alice clung on to me like she was lost at sea, and I was the only person who could save her from drowning.

  I had to do something, but I had no idea what to do.

  I wasn’t a doctor.

  How was I supposed to help her to get better?

  At last I let her go. For the first time, I noticed how thin and tired she looked.

  ‘Maybe you just need to be patient,’ I said.

  ‘I don’t want to be patient,’ said Alice, stamping her good foot.

  I giggled.

  ‘That’s a start I suppose,’ I said. ‘That’s more like the Alice I used to know.’

  She sighed.

  ‘It’s not so hard when I’m here with you. But when everyone else is around, it’s like I don’t feel like trying any more. I don’t feel like going out shopping or to the cinema or anything. I wouldn’t even go to school, except that Mum and Dad insist – and I’m too tired to argue with them. All I want to do is stay at home, where I’m safe and warm.’